Electroporation is an effective approach for drug and gene delivery, but it is still limited by its low-throughput and severe cell damage. Herein, with a self-powered triboelectric nanogenerator as the power source, we demonstrated a high-throughput electroporation system based on the design of biocompatible and flexible polypyrrole microfoam as the electrode within the flow channel. In particular, to lower the imposed voltage, one-dimensional (1D) Ag nanowires were modified on the microfoam electrode to build up a locally enhanced electric field and reduce cell damage. The self-powered electroporation system realized a successful delivery of small and large biomolecules into different cell lines with efficiency up to 86% and cell viability over 88%. The handle throughput achieved as high as 105 cells min-1 on continuously flowed cells. The high-throughput and self-powered electroporation system is expected to have potential applications in the fields of high-throughput drug and gene delivery for in vitro isolated cells.
Keywords: drug delivery; electroporation; high-throughput; microfoam electrode; self-powered; triboelectric nanogenerator.